Skip to Content
Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2008 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies®
book

Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2008 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

by Robert D. Schneider, Darril Gibson
September 2008
Beginner to intermediate
768 pages
17h 40m
English
For Dummies
Content preview from Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2008 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

III.2.3. Using Execution Plans to Figure Out What's Happening

Execution plans are graphical representations of a query plan. You view an execution plan to determine how the query optimizer is building the query. Execution plans are often easier to view and interpret than the all-text query plans. They also provide a lot more information on the cost of a query.

To display an execution plan, perform the following steps:

  1. Launch SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) by choosing StartAll ProgramsMicrosoft SQL Server 2008SQL Server Management Studio.

  2. On the Connect to Server screen, click Connect.

  3. Click the New Query button to open a new query window.

  4. Right-click in the query window and choose Include Actual Execution Plan.

    You can also choose Display Estimated Execution Plan from the same menu as Include Actual Execution Plan. The estimated plan displays immediately based on the Optimizer's best guesses. The actual plan appears after the query runs and shows the actual times for the query and each sub element.

  5. Enter a query into the query window.

    If you have AdventureWorks2008 installed, use the ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Step by Step

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Step by Step

Mike Hotek
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Bible

Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Bible

Paul Nielsen, Mike White, Uttam Parui

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780470179543Purchase book